


8 Letters

by superspidey



Category: Formula 1 RPF, formula 1 - Fandom
Genre: A long story to tell, A lot of tears involved, Ambiguous/Open Ending...for now, Angst, Be patient and you'll enjoy the story, Break Up, Carlos lost memories of Lando, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Formula One, Good Byes, Heartbreak, Jealousy, M/M, Memory Loss, Pierre Gasly - Freeform, Sweet memories but painful reality, Tears, complicatied, unspoken feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29042700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superspidey/pseuds/superspidey
Summary: Lando is the only person Carlos can't remember after waking up from a coma.
Relationships: Isa Hernáez/Carlos Sainz Jr, Lando Norris & Max Verstappen, Lando Norris/Carlos Sainz Jr
Comments: 19
Kudos: 71





	1. I Lost You

**Author's Note:**

> I got the inspiration from the song--8 letters by why don't we. That song really fires up my passion to write this fanfic.  
> English is not my first language, I use DeepL to help me finish this. Grammars and words might be used in a wrong way but I sincirerly hope that doesn't effect your reading experience.  
> Kudos and comments are welcome! If you have any idea about the story, I'm happy to listen:)  
> Enjoy!:)

*  
Lando woke up in a daze from his sleep. He closed his eyes, rubbed his face and tried to sink back into sleep, but somehow he couldn't.

  
It was still at least 3 hours before dawn and even if he got to the hospital early, he might not be able to see Carlos.

  
Carlos had been in a coma for almost 2 weeks and there seemed to be no sign of him waking up. It was the last race before the summer break. Before the practice session started, Carlos had snuck into the McLaren garage, put his arm around Lando,cuddled the little one, and affectionately promised his boyfriend to take him on a holiday to the Spanish coast during the summer break with many kisses. Little did he know that two days later, on Sunday, Carlos would be seriously injured in a serious accident and would not wake up until the end of July.

  
Lando stared at the ceiling, only felt tired than ever. He wanted to be with Carlos' side , but for some reason Mr. Sainz seemed to be deliberately rebuffing his requests. "We have the best medical team, Lando, you don't have to worry." Mr. Sainz explained this to Lando with an inexplicably averted look in his eyes. One day, Lando met Isa, who was coming out of the hospital, and Isa just simply said she had "been busy, see you later" and hurriedly avoided Lando by quickly getting into her car and left.

  
Lando lay sleeplessly in the dark for another three hours, waking up just after dawn. Since he couldn't go and see Carlos, he had to find something to distract himself. He had work to do today and he couldn't just drop all his works just for thinking about Carlos.

  
He had to be strong for Carlos.

  
With the morning workout and the MTC meeting splitting up the short morning, Lando didn't have time to check his phone until he was about to have lunch. He had just tapped on the screen when he saw nearly 10 missed calls and countless messages, reminding him how wrong it was to forget to check his phone.

  
There was only one thing that could instantly fill his mail box with so many messages.

  
Lando's breath hitched and his fingers began to tremble uncontrollably. Shakily, he unlocked the screen and tapped on the latest missed call to call back - it was Caco.

  
"Lando!" Caco picked up the phone before it had even rung a few times, his voice a hidden joy, "Can you come quickly? Carlos is awake, thank goodness ...... "

  
Lando felt tears suddenly fill his eyes. He rushed out of the building, jumped into his car and drove home as fast as possible. The nearest flight to Madrid was in three hours and if it was quick enough, he would see Carlos tonight.

  
Lando rubbed hard at his already swollen eyes. Carlos was awake, finally, after such a long time.Lando always believed they would watch the sunset at the sea, kissing, together. Everything would be alright again, as long as Carlos was awake.

  
The flight had lasted for less than three hours, but every second Lando felt like an eternity. When he hurriedly pushed open the door and stepped into Carlos' hospital room, he realised that Carlos' family seemed to have already left. At the bedside of the bed, an assortment of cards, flowers and gifts filled the tiny table, and Lando stood in the doorway, dragging his suitcase, his hair was a mess, and he didn’t have time to prepare anything for his boyfriend . For a moment, Lando felt a bit overwhelmed, as if he and Carlos were reuniting after years of separation and didn't know what to say to each other when they met again.

  
It was when Lando realized that, besides Carlos, there was another person in the room --- Isa.

  
Isa was sitting next to Carlos, looking at Lando in the doorway with him, and the two Spaniards had the same surprise in their eyes. _Don’t cry_ , Lando told himself, _Carlos is awake and he doesn't want to see you crying._ So he lifted his arm and wiped the tears with his sleeve, then forced himself to stretch an ugly smile on the corners of his mouth.

  
His smile froze as he saw Isa and Carlos holding each others’ hands tightly, fingers intertwined. "Honey, who is this?" Carlos asked suspiciously, "Is he getting into the wrong room?"

  
"What? Carlos..." Lando suddenly felt a piece of his heart being plucked out without any sign. Had Carlos already forgotten him? Or had he really forgotten everyone?

  
Isa patted the back of his hand soothingly. "Just give me a second, okay?" She gently whispered to Carlos, "I’ll be back in a minute." Carlos nodded, taking her hand and kissing it before letting go.

Lando's mind was a mess, barely able to process the situation. But he had almost guessed out the answer. He felt a cold sweat begin to seep down his back and his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably. Maybe it was just because Carlos had forgotten about him? Maybe it wasn't just him he had forgotten, but the other riders as well?

  
How could Carlos have forgotten him?

  
But why was Isa so close to Carlos? She was one of the few friends knowing that he and Carlos were lovers. Isa even took him to her studio when Carlos brought him to Madrid on holiday for the first time. They had a lovely chat, Isa was a lovely friend, a lovely older sister to her. Besides, if she and Carlos were secretly in love, then why hadn't either of them taken a step forward in the past ten years they had known each other?

  
Isa gently tugged on Lando's arm and led him out of the room, closing the door behind him.Lando bit his lip ,struggling to hold back the tears that were about to fall, and tried to look Isa straight in the eye.

  
"He's forgotten about me, hasn't he?"

  
Isa sighed.

  
"Only you."

  
Tears streamed down Lando's face.

  
"Why?" He heard his own voice hoarse as broken glass, spilled at his feet, piercing every inch of his skin with pain, "And you? Why did he treat you like that?"

  
Isa's eyes drifted away.

  
"I'm his girlfriend now, I'm sorry Lando. But please let me explain... We did this for a reason."

  
Lando looked straght at Isa, whose beautiful face was covered by guilt and worries, he found himself not be able to speak any word. He was so numb at the same time, the only thing he could feel was just a hard hollowed out piece of his heart, a piece of that emptiness so black that not even a drop of blood could come out.

_*Tuesday at 10am*_

  
Lando arrived an hour earlier at the cafe where he had agreed to meet Isa. He hadn't eaten anything for almost a day, but strangely, he didn't feel hungry, just tired. After ordering a cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate cake, Lando forced himself to eat a little, but after a few forced bites of cake, he only felt wanting to vomit. So he pushed his plate away and picked up his phone, scrolling aimlessly through social apps and websites.

  
The news that Carlos had woken up was flooding all his apps, all the comments were complimentary and thankful words. Lando then bitterly realized he was the only one who had to swallow all his tears and pains back to the stomach.

  
"Lando.” Someone was calling his name. Lando headed up. Isa had sat down and gently patted the back of his hand, smiling to him with sorrow.

  
Suddenly, Lando didn't know what kind of emotion he should hold to face Isa, the woman in front of him. She had been a friend, but was now suddenly Carlos' girlfriend, replacing his place around Carlos. That dreamy Spaniard Lando saw yesterday, that gentle Carlos, _**HIS Carlos**_ , had kissed her yesterday while Lando was watching. It was all the more absurd that this had become natural after Carlos had lost his memory of Lando. No one defended Lando when all of this had happened, even Isa, who had always claimed to be "friends" with Carlos, was forcing Lando to accept the truth in an apologetic, gentle and forceful tone.

  
Isa carefully eyed Lando's face for a moment. "You look pale, have you not eaten for a while?" Isa asked with some concern, calling out to the waiter as she quickly ordered a few dishes from the menu.As the waiter walked away, Isa sighed in relief and took a sip from the glass of water.

  
"Lando, I know you must have a lot of questions right now, but please do listen to my explanation, okay?" Isa looked straight at Lando with sincere eyes and reached out a hand, taking the Brit’s right hand that was resting on the table comfortingly.

  
Lando nodded wordlessly.

  
Isa lowered his eyes, her tone became slightly sad.

  
"Carlos woke up yesterday morning, and I happened to be next to him at that time. His family came soon after he woke up, too. At first we thought everything was normal, but while the doctors were running some tests, Carlos' problems were exposed.

  
"To make sure he hadn't received any damage to his memory, we got photos of his family, friends and also colleagues. He remembered everyone, but for some reason ...... only didn't know who you were.

  
"The doctors advised us not to push him to pick up the memories from the past.Mr. Sainz then suggested to me that ,perhaps I could act as his girlfriend, to help him until he fully recovered."  
Lando stared at their clasped hands, silent.

  
Isa was right. Even though the summer break had only just begun, that didn't mean that teams didn't have work to do. McLaren had a lot of training and work scheduled for him, Carlos must have had to rehab, Lando couldn't afford to go back and forth between Spain and the UK, and Carlos couldn't possibly follow him between Italy, Spain and the UK during his recovery period. Right now, Isa was really the best option to look after Carlos.

  
Except for the fact that she was now Carlos' girlfriend.

  
Lando sighed and tried hard not to burst into tears again. He stared aside at the already tasteless tiramisu, and despite having avoided Isa's eyes, he could feel the woman's burning gaze lingering on his face.

  
"That's fine with me." Lando replied briefly, heart already broken into million pieces inside.

  
Isa was visibly relieved and Lando gently withdrew his hand. Suddenly there was an awkward silence between the two. Eventually, Isa managed to speak first. "Lando, I know this is difficult for you," Isa's soft voice was filled with guilt, "but please don't bring up what happened between you and Carlos during this time, okay? The doctor has said that we can't push him too much , the only thing we can do is to wait for him to pick up his memories from the past naturally, so ......"

  
"How long will it take for him to fully recover?" Lando asked.

  
Isa's didn't answer, but the look on her face said it all.

  
Lando took a deep breath and stood up, squeezing a smile that was worse than a cry.

  
"As long as Carlos gets better," he heard himself saying, voice hurt like a dying man, "make sure he's in the race again in September, will you?"

  
Isa didn't give him an answer until he left.

_*Belgian Grand Prix FP2*_

  
Lando jumped out of the car and couldn't wait to put off his helmet.It was still a little too hot in Belgium in September, Lando felt quiet difficult to breathe with the helmet during the race, but right now, it was lucky that Jon was there to take the helmet for him. His trainer patted him on the shoulder encouragingly. "Well done." Jon handed him water, showed him his results and told him that that he could go back to his room for a little rest. So Lando sipped his water as he went back to the lounge to change his sweaty racing suit.

  
In Daniel's rest room, the sound of SKY F1 channel was still broadcasting the race. Lando sighed, then pulled his milk box which he secretly hid in the backpack, opened the it and lay down casually on the beanbag couch, ready to enjoy some hard-earned relaxation time.

  
"...... I've been through a lot of hardship after my injury. Luckily my family and my girlfriend have been there for me, helping me during the period, and that's probably why I was able to get back on the paddock so quickly ......"

  
Lando's breath hitched.

  
He hadn't seen Carlos in ages. After leaving the cafe that day, Isa had sent him another long text message, begging him not to contact Carlos during this time, on the grounds that Carlos _"needed to focus on his recovery"_. So Lando kept his promise and didn't make a single phone call or send a single message to Carlos for the whole month. Before the start of FP1, he caught a glimpse of Carlos as he walked into the Ferrari's building from a distance. Lando really wanted to run up and hug Carlos from behind, telling him a small welcome back with his lips touching the older one’s, even Carlos still didn't remember him. Maybe Isa would blame him for his impulsiveness, but it was already enough for him to just touch Carlos like that.

  
It was the first race without Carlos telling him to be safe, and the first race without Carlos in the McLaren building. It was strange that , before that heart-broken accident, every time Carlos appeared in their space in a red suit, it still felt so natural, as if he only changed the color of the suit, and the Spaniard was still one of the Mclaren drivers. Zak and Andrea still hugged and high-fived with Carlos, Henrik still snapped a nice picture of Lando and Carlos when he happened to see them holding hands or kissing, and sent those pictures to them after the race. Charlotte and Helen still called Carlos "Charlie" out of habit. Even they all knew that Carlos was not supposed to be in their rival's room. Now that Carlos had literally stopped running to their pit lane, what should have been normal had eventually become strange.

  
Lando always knew what he wanted. He wanted to see Carlos, wanted Carlos to hold him like he did the last time they met in the rest room before the race two months ago; He wanted Carlos to kiss him on the forehead and promise him with affection, that they would spend the holidays together; He wanted Carlos to gently kiss his face, his shoulders and even his chest, promising over and over again that he would never leave.

  
But who would have thought that two months later, Lando would find it so difficult to see him?

  
Lando felt a sudden irritation in his heart.

  
He drank the rest of his milk and stood up. The sound on the TV next door had changed to Max’s voice. Carlos had probably returned to the rest room. The post-race debrief wasn't due to start for another hour, so perhaps he had plenty of time to pretend he had inadvertently walked past Ferrari's room, to say hello to Carlos as ex-teammate and shake his hand like a friend.

  
As he walked towards Ferrari's rest room, Lando felt his heart almost pop out of his throat.

  
_Are you ready for any consequences?_

  
he heard a voice inquire inside him.

  
_I can live with whatever the consequences are, just let me look at him for one last time._

  
The red building that was getting closer opened its doors just as Lando was walking past the Aston Martin. It was Carlos, and Lando's footsteps suddenly stopped. The courage that he had managed to build up earlier was suddenly hidden away again, timidity and hesitation were like stones on the back of his feet, preventing him from moving a step.

  
In the distance, Carlos turned, stopped and waited for the people behind him to come out of the room.

  
It was Isa.

  
Carlos waited for Isa to come out of the room, closed the door, and took her hand from behind . He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, as Isa's hand naturally wrapped around Carlos' neck immediately. After the kiss, the two leaned closely against each other, the silhouettes of the lovers drawn together in the Belgian sunset, beautiful as a painting.

  
Lando remembered a question Carlos had answered him earlier. The Spaniard said, Lando, one of the best pieces of advice you ever gave me about love was that I don't believe in love at first sight. And that night, as he walked Lando home, the Spaniard took Lando into his arms, left a small kiss on the top of his curls and took the little one’s slightly cold hand in his.

  
_You don't believe in love at first sight, but I do._

  
Carlos grinned, looked into Lando's eyes, which were glowing like the star in the darkness, and said truthfully.

  
But now it seems that the man who believed in love at first sight had finally chosen the one, who had fallen in love for him over time.


	2. I Knew You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> British. Five years younger than him. Race for Mclaren. That was all the information he could get about the younger one. Carlos had also watched some videos of him and Norris on Youtube. In the videos, the two of them were always so close to each other, joking and laughing around, sometimes Carlos even threw heart-eyes toward the younger one, as if they were very intimate. However, Carlos couldn’t remember it at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! It takes me almost two weeks to finish the second chapter.
> 
> Translation is still a big issue, but I've tried to perfect it. If there're any mistakes plz forgive me:)  
> Enjoy!

*

Carlos had never felt so lucky.

When he had just woken up from the coma, everything had seemed like a tidal wave suddenly crushing over his mind. The noises were so much louder than before, so annoying that he couldn't concentrate on what was really going on around him. That's when he felt someone hold his hand tightly.

"Carlos, relax." The voice was like a blurry light in the dark, lonely ocean, guiding Carlos to gradually calm his nerves. His vision finally came to life again, then, Isa's beautiful, smiling face appeared in his eyes.

Then his friends, his family, all came to him. Even the doctor taking him for a second check-up couldn't separate the Sainz family. The doctor said that he was lucky to wake up after such a serious accident. Also, he didn't seem to be in any serious aftereffects. The doctor even promised Carlos, "with some proper training and enough rests, you'll be able to sit in the car very soon." Hearing these words, Carlos almost wanted to cry. He thanked God countless time in his heart for giving him another chance to return to the career he loved with a healthy body, the life he had enjoyed so much, though he had suffered a lot from the accidents. But fortunately, his family and girlfriend would be there for him, no matter how hard it takes to recover from the injuries. What more could he ask for?

In terms of Isa, the Spaniard would say it was his greatest luck to have her by his side. Mr. Sainz told him that during the two weeks he was in a coma, Isa really took good care of him without resting for more than 5 hours a day. She had always been so patient, so faithful, that she prayed everyday for Carlos to come back to her again. "Isa could have left," Mr. Sainz said, " But she didn’t. she's the person here who gave the most for you."

Thankfully, the effort had been worth it.

However, to Carlos' regret, he seemed to have lost all his memories of Isa. He had completely no recollection of him and Isa being together, even a fraction of the details. How long had they been in love? When had they been together? What Isa had given him as the anniversary present? Carlos had no clue at all. But that was actually not a big deal, at least for now. Because Mr. Sainz's words and Isa's care had convinced him deeply of how much they used to love each other.

Every time Isa came and help Carlos move his head, eating and drinking, smiling at him like an angle, the Spaniard just felt so warm inside. He was grateful to have Isa and loved by her as well, all he could do now is to promise her a speedy recovery and never left her again, just like the time Carlos had forgotten. But it was also not a big deal, because he and Isa still had plenty of time to create so many beautiful memories.

Thinking of that, Carlos smiled and sighed, holding Isa's hand tightly.

*

Carlos felt even more fortune to have his recovery ended before the end of the summer break. He was lucky enough to make it to the first race of the second half season. Although it had only been two months, Carlos felt as if it had been an eternity since he had met his crew. The boys couldn't help but surround him with tears and laughter. It made Carlos feel a little emotional and want to cry at the same time. He also went back to meet Zak and Andrea, his two ex-bosses. Both of them were too surprised to speak when they saw him, but the redden eyes had already proven how excited they were.

They had a long chat at the McLaren hospitality.

"Lando has works to do in the UK today, but he will fly here tomorrow. " Between some random conversations, Andrea casually mentioned as he sipped his coffee, "So you'll probably be able to see him tomorrow. But I supposed you two have already met each other in July,don’t you?"

Carlos couldn’t speak a word, just sipped his coffee at the same time.

Lando Norris, his _so called_ ex-teammate, was strangely another person he couldn’t remember. When he was permitted to leave the hospital and started his long recovery period at home, he finally got to know something about him. 

British. Five years younger than him. Race for Mclaren. That was all the information he could get about the younger one. Carlos had also watched some videos of him and Norris on Youtube. In the videos, the two of them were always so close to each other, joking and laughing around, sometimes Carlos even threw heart-eyes toward the younger one, as if they were very intimate. However, Carlos couldn’t remember it at all. Not the videos they filmed together, not even the Brit himself. Although in the videos, they were called “Bromance” by a lot of people, perhaps out of the camera, Norris and he were barely talking. Maybe they were like the ice and the flames, completely opposite against each other in the character, so they could only act like two brothers to cooperate with the marketing advertisement. Fans loved to see them hanging out together, so did the sponsors. But in reality? Who knew.

The fact is, Carlos hadn't received a single message from any 'Norris' during his recovery, which confirmed more of his speculation that he and Norris were probably not as close as they “supposed” to be. Besides, Mr Sainz always seemed annoyed when talking about Carlos' time at McLaren. At the meantime Caco always looked like he wanted to say something. Carlos’ family always knew him best, and they were always nice to his friends and colleagues. So, if his parents couldn’t stand with Norris as well, perhaps this kid was actually not so adorable as people think. 

Besides, Carlos believed that when you can't remember a specific person, either he was the one you love the most or he was not satisfied with your character. Maybe Norris did belong to the latter. 

Noticing the Spaniard didn’t speak a word, Zak changed the subject naturally, because apparently he didn’t want to make him feel embarrassed. "So, Carlos, who have you been with all this time?"

Carlos was relieved, thank God, that he finally didn't have to respond to those Norris-related questions anymore. "I've been staying with my family and my girlfriend Isa. she's been really supportive to me."

Zak and Andrea looked at each other strangely.

"What's wrong?" Carlos asked ,confused.

"Nothing." Zak simply replied.

When Carlos was about to talk more about Isa, Caco walked in and reminded Carlos to join the Ferrari press conference which started in 15 minutes. So Carlos said a brief goodbye to Zak and Andrea, then quickly left the McLaren hospitality.

*

Carlos still felt quiet strange somehow.

Even though his recovery period was officially over and he was theoretically "fit enough to go back to racing", he still felt something was stolen in his life, to be more precise, in his brain. The lack of memory was like a crystal shattered hard into different pieces. No matter how well it was glued and fixed together again, the cracks and flaws between broken parts would never be neglected. Carlos looked happy and energetic during the day, especially when facing other people. But deep inside, he knew he couldn’t pretend nothing happened after the memories loss. Sometimes Carlos was confused that, why did he only lose the memories of Isa and Norris, because they meant obviously two types of people to him. Even if the memories of Norris didn't matter, why couldn’t he memorize any special memories of Isa as they had been together for almost two years?

In the middle of the night, Carlos would suffer from a splitting headache from time to time, as if it were a side effect of his already-recovered injuries. However, after the headache, he found himself to be able to pick up some pieces of memory. One time Carlos seemed to recall the scene of kissing someone in his flat in Italy. The one wrapped his arms around Carlos’ neck loosely, sitting on his laps, his whole body comfortably leaning against Carlos’ chest, giggling happily at what the Spaniard had said to him. Carlos was smiling too, the one’s giggle was so cute that Carlos couldn't help but kiss his cheek again and again affectionately. It was pouring outside, the weather had seemed freezing, but both of them were warm because of sharing the same blanket and snuggling with each other. When Carlos was about to see the his face, the memory was suddenly like a broken tape jammed in the recorder, no matter how hard Carlos tried, he couldn’t recall it more.

Maybe it was just the memories of him and Isa cuddling together. It was a good sign, as he was gradually picking up memories about her.

Carlos whispered to himself, closed his eyes and tried to numb himself with such thoughts. Tired and a little bit desperate deep inside his heart, Carlos felt asleep soon.

*Belgium Grand Prix *

Carlos knew he needed time to adjust himself into racing again after leaving this field for almost 3 months, but it quiet annoyed him that he didn't gain a single point. Ferrari was still not competitive enough compared to the other teams this year, but that didn’t mean less chance of winning some precious points and push the team to a higher position. Sometimes Carlos would wonder if he really had made the right choice to leave McLaren for Ferrari, but even if he doubted it, getting the job done as well as possible still remained the top priority for him.

Carlos knew that no one would blame him. As far as they were concerned, "Carlos finished safely" was already good enough, considering what he had been through. Thank goodness. Before Carlos headed toward to the rest room, he took a quick glance at the race results. Verstappen won the Grad Prix, apparently. Norris in second, followed by Perez in third. It was the third time this season that McLaren had finished with the podium. For Mclaren, Ricciardo was undoubtedly one of the top drivers in this field. Having him as a member of the team was definitely their fortune. However Norris, despite only having been in F1 for three years, this kid had shown his outstanding talent during the season. Just like Jensen Button once commented,”The future star is born”.

Astonished by the performance of the younger one, Carlos felt some natural magnets towards the young British driver. Perhaps they didn’t get on well with each other during his time in Mclaren, but that it surely won’t affect his recognition of Norris’ talent. Carlos realized He hadn't had the chance to talk to Norris after coming back from the coma. But until now, he also didn’t prompt out the intention to talk to him. While Carlos was constantly watching the Mclaren boys’ interview with the helmet on his hands, standing straight in the middle of the garage, he surprisingly found the British boy's cheeky smile and adorably cute baby curls so familiar, and he couldn’t stop staring at the younger one’s cute face for no reason.

Maybe he should talk to Norris. Whatever had happened between them had passed, it’s time to move on from this bad relationship and developed a new, healthy one. As long as he couldn’t remember anything about their fight, maybe they could be friends in the future.

Carlos felt it was his duty to clear up the misunderstanding between them.

Also, he had to admit that Norris didn't, seem like someone who would be super annoying after all.

After the debrief, Carlos and Charles left the room, all tired. Darkness had fallen by the time he walked out the door. There 're only few marshals left on the paddock, most of the crew had gone back to the hotel for a rest. Before the debrief, Carlos had texted Isa that he wouldn’t be back soon, because he expected the meeting would last long.

Yet the meeting ended much earlier than predicted. However, Carlos wasn't in the mood to return to the hotel and stay with Isa. Because he really needed some time by himself. Carlos did enjoy Isa’s accompany, but his girlfriend never left him alone for even one minute made him feel a little uncomfortable. As Carlos strolled around the place aimlessly, he caught a quick glimpse of McLaren's garage. The fuzzy light leaked from the window indicated the crew was still working tiredlessly, probably being busy with packing stuff and repairing the car. So Carlos turned around, headed for the building, intending to find his ex-colleagues for a quick chat.

Henrik and Charlie greeted him at the door naturally when they saw him and then let him in. Carlos crossed the rooms where Norris and Ricardo were resting and headed for the exit of the road. The sounds of the crew fixing cars and packing gradually became more and more clear as he walked closer.

"Lando! Come back and hand back the spanner! How dare you! " A sudden high-pitched shout startled Carlos. With the noises of the footsteps, Carlos could tell a few guys were rushing in toward the exit. They were running and laughing so hard that, the whole building was full of those noises. All in a flash, a man in orange firstly jumped out from the other side of the exit, rushing forward like a small torpedo. He was running and screaming excitedly like a kid, left hand holding a spanner. Before he could watch the road, he was suddenly stumbled by the wires which were casually placed on the floor, then crashed heavily into Carlos' arms.

"Hey! Watch out, mate!" Carlos quickly reached out and wrapped him tightly, preventing the other one from falling. Everything happened so fast that he didn’t notice their posture, as if he was the one holding the reckless boy tightly in his arms. Carlos carefully wrapped his arms around the boy’s waist to help him regain his balance while staring at him closely. It was then Carlos realized the boy was such a small, cute younger one.

The boy in his arms was panting heavily, sweats and dirt covered his whole face, making Carlos almost wanted to wiped away those sweat drops with so many kisses. His rosy, freckled cheek was heating, shining eyes were just like the rippled lake covered with the shadows of the green. The innocence and pureness in those eyes was pouring into Carlos’ memories, memorizing the familiar feeling of butterflies flipping in the Spaniard’s stomach.

As the boy headed up and looked at him through his long eye lashes with a cheeky smile, he suddenly stiffened in Carlos’ arms. A mixture of surprise and panic instantly filled his green puppy eyes , thin lips were slightly parted , and started to shake harder and harder. The boy was breathing heavily, as if he were a small, lost deer escaping away from the fierce killer. At that moment, Carlos' mind flashed back to the fragmented memories that had plagued him during the night. The boy's pretty face and those puppy eyes were so familiar, way too familiar but he just had no clue where he had seen them before. The sense of the younger one reminded him of the person in his broken memories. The touches and those looks felt just like him, to Carlos’ surprise, even Isa couldn’t give him such a feeling.

But why did he have no memory of the boy at all? Why couldn't Isa bring this feeling to him?

"Excuse me, but..." Realizing how embarrassed the situation was, Carlos quickly pulled his hands away and apologized to the younger one. Before he was able to completed the sentences, the boy suddenly wrapped his arms tightly around Carlos’ waist, and crashed himself hard into Carlos' arms again. Carlos froze, the younger one’s heat radiated through the thin clothing between their bodies, consciously waking Carlos’ mind with a soft flip.

"Lando!" the two mechanics appeared at the exit , then stopped as they noticed who Lando was hugging.

Carlos felt like he couldn’t breath. The younger one in his arms, sobbing bitterly in his chest, was his _ex-teammate_ , Lando Norris.

Of course, who else could it be?

His ex-teammate Norris was crying in his arms silently. Warm tears felt down endlessly through his already redden cheek,wetting the clothing on Carlos’ chest. His body was shaking heavily like the earthquake, all tired and fragile, as if it would broke down completely if Carlos dared to let go. With streaming tears, Lando stared at Carlos with his swollen eyes. The sadness silently spilt out from those glassy eyes, making Carlos almost wanted to kiss those beautiful eyes and hold him tight, telling him that he would do anything to protect him, as long as he could smile again.

Instead,all the Spaniard could do is to carefully place his hand behind Norris's neck, then stroked the younger one’s back gently and whispered quietly to him , soothing him with some Spanish comfort words. As Norris gradually stopped crying and fitted himself tiredly into Carlos’ arms and still shaking, the Spaniard’s mind also started to storm. He was surprised to find that he did not seem to hate being so close to Lando. Somehow Carlos was even kind of addicted to the feeling of having the little one in his arms.

Carlos was so addicted to the feeling of being trust by Lando. He would like to make the younger one feel secured, and he enjoyed the cuteness of the younger one too.

Carlos thought he and Lando had hated each other. He thought the boy in his arms hated him so much, maybe it’s because they always confronted with each other during his time in Mclaren, or they just simply couldn’t get along well. In the time before, he had hypothesised millions of possibilities in his mind about their relationship, and his family's reaction to the boy had also persuaded him that he and Lando really couldn’t get along with each other. However, when he actually saw Lando for the first time after the accident, everything he learned about the Brit seemed so wrong. Lando was such a sweet, little kid, at least that’s what he looked like. The way he cried in Carlos’ arms couldn’t lie, so did his bitter tears and sad eyes. Carlos could feel his heart beating so fast when the Brit looked at him through his eye lashes, tear drops still lingering on his small, freckled face. A clear voice inside Carlos’ mind echoed, telling him the fact he couldn’t take, the truth that he had been afraid for weeks and reluctant to face.

His family was probably lying to him. They were trying to steal his true memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carlos is making progress, which is a good sign. And our McLaren boys finally meet each other.  
> Trust me mate, everything happend for a reason.  
> What do you think about the second chapter? Do you have any thoughts about it?Please tell me if you actually have one bc I'm happy to know:D  
> Kudos and comments are welcome!


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